Showtime buyers more willing to order fabricsHome Textiles Today Share Winding up the International Textile Market Assn.'s Showtime, exhibitors said buyers have been making long-term fabric commitments despite continued cloudiness in the U.S. economy. "Our customers are thinking about growth more than just survival," said Zack Taylor, vice president of sales and marketing for domestic resource Valdese Weavers. "There's not as much paranoia  which is healthy."More

Performance fabrics expand at ShowtimeCasual
Living Share While most performance fabric manufacturers described Showtime as steady or good, Tom Byrnes said the response at the Liora Manne booth was unbelievable. In addition to fabric swatches, the designer's vibrant colors and patterns appeared on mannequins, ottomans, rugs and pillows constructed to go
outdoors. "We're getting a lot of credit for uniqueness of design," said Byrnes, marketing director, Liore Manne.
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Facts and figures from ShowtimeITMA Share Check out June Showtime Daily Drop #1 and Daily Drop #2 for some key facts and figures from last week's show in High Point, N.C.

Glen Raven installs solar panels at Sunbrella facilityFurniture Today Share Glen Raven has begun construction of a solar energy installation on the roof of its Sunbrella Yarn Manufacturing Center that will generate power roughly equivalent to the annual electricity usage of 47 homes. The $3 million project includes replacing the plant's 175,000-square-foot roof with a highly reflective white roof that will enhance the performance of the solar panels and also improve cooling inside the plant. More

Softline partners with GuardIn TechnologyHome Textiles Today Share Softline Home Fashions has signed an exclusive partnership deal with GuardIn Natural Fabric Protection, which uses all-natural technology to make fabric anti-bacterial and flame-resistant as well as stain- and water-repellant. GaurdInFresh is derived from all-natural, food safe essential oils and minerals to inhibit the growth of bacteria and associated odors. More

US apparel: On target, on
budgetTextile World Share Contrary to a common misperception that virtually all U.S. apparel manufacturing has migrated offshore  largely to Asia  in search of lower costs,
some branded and private-label apparel is still being made in the United States, and, indeed, a bit of a turnaround is taking place, with brands and retailers reassessing the value of manufacturing domestically, or at least closer to home.More

Exclusive research: Retailers. How's business?Casual
Living Share In a recent Casual Living survey, 82 percent of retailers said they expect sales for 2011 to be about the same or higher than in 2010. An improving economy is the reason 38 percent of retailers give for being hopeful about this year, while 25 percent say consumer confidence appears to be increasing.
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The real costs of doing businessSpecialty Fabrics Review Share This job's a tough one; the design is different, the material expensive. The customer is haggling. Can you price it to meet your target margin? Do you know what your target margin is? Can you even price it to break even?More

Drought-hit Texas farmers on brink of writing off cottonReuters Share Reeling from the worst drought in a
century, cotton farmers in Texas are on the brink of writing off their
withered plants this year and collecting the insurance. The drought plaguing Texas, the
biggest cotton growing state in the
U.S., pushed up cotton futures this spring. Futures are hovering near $1.30
a lb, four times what they were in 2010 when cotton was the best performing
commodity.
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Bad customer service irks most US shoppersReuters Share Americans are fed up with bad customer service, with 64 percent walking out of stores due to poor assistance and 67 percent hanging up on a call before their problems are even addressed, according to a
new survey. The most annoying gripe is not being able to get a person on the phone, followed by rude salespeople, according to findings from a Consumer Reports survey.More

89 Chinese manufacturers excluded from antidumping reviewFurniture Today Share Petitioners supporting the wooden bedroom furniture antidumping case against China have agreed to let nearly 90 Chinese producers off an administrative review list that would audit their 2010 shipments. The review, the sixth of its kind in the wooden bedroom case, determines whether producers will pay a higher or lower retroactive duty compared to their initial cash
deposit rate for that year's shipments.More

Nickerson encourages industry guidelinesSpecialty Fabrics Review Share "At the end of the day, I want to be able to look myself in the mirror," says David Nickerson, president of Rubb Inc. in Sanford, Maine. "And that means designing to the building code  period." At 23 years old, Nickerson was hired to work as plant manager at Rubb Buildings, which designs and fabricates engineered fabric structures and membrane-clad, frame-supported buildings.More

Swipe-fee reform clears last hurdleCalifornia Apparel News Share By July 21, merchants' fees for debit-card transactions, or swipe fees, will go down. The July start date for swipe-fee caps follows the defeat of a bill in the U.S. Senate, the "Debit Interchange Fee Study Act of 2011," which would have delayed the cap for two years. The bill needed a majority of 60 votes to pass, but it came up six votes short when the Senate took action on the bill June 8. More